Jude and I first met in the FEE Mansion out in Irvington, NY, back in January 2004. We were the two spring interns. And we both received year-long fellowships at FEE after our internships ended.

I can say with confidence that I learned more from Jude at FEE than I did in my undergraduate studies. And quite possibility I learned more from him than if I had spent the same time in graduate school.

Although Jude’s a bit younger than me, he became my mentor of sorts, suggesting numerous articles, books, papers, blogposts, etc to read and contemplate. And then we would share ideas – usually me soaking up what he had to say, but I also expressed my thoughts. He helped me to learn and deepen my understanding of the world more than any of my college professors.

Jude encouraged me to clarify these ideas – and my personal take on them – in writing. He pushed me to write articles for FEE. And between him and the Great Sheldini, my drafts were eventually edited into coherent pieces suitable for publication.

We’d also chat about fitness, exercise and the ideal diet. We’d do our best to eat ethically and healthy, though we weren’t always successful. And we decided to get in shape together by running the Vermont Green Mountain Marathon in October 2004.

Working together, we trained and ultimately succeeded in our first marathon. We drove up to Vermont and ran the race together. We didn’t exactly train as well as we should have, so we hobbled through parts and were quite sore for some time afterwards.

But we both crossed the finish line.

I include this post on the Primal Challenge because Principle 7 is about being a part of a healthy team. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I didn’t have the fortune of interning at the same time as Jude, I would not have been offered a fellowship to stay at FEE. I would have returned to Ohio when my internship ended and my life path would have been drastically different.

I may never have gotten motivated enough to run my first marathon, which inspired me to continue running. And during that marathon, I saw my first barefoot runner — which kinda blew my mind and inspired me to ditch my shoes & run outside barefoot for the first time as an adult.

Further, after my fellowship ended, Jude let me crash on his couch for the entire summer.

He landed a great job in DC, and I didn’t have anything. For a full summer, he let me live with him rent free as he helped me find a career in DC. Without that support, I would never have had the chance to succeed in DC. I ultimately landed my dream job, and now I have a wonderful and healthy girlfriend and lots of great friends here too. I wouldn’t have met any of them if I didn’t get roots planted in DC.

You never know exactly how many people you’ll help, or how far your influence extends. But the important point is that we can’t always succeed on our own. The world is a complex place. And we evolved in it as a pack as social creatures, thriving off of working together and interacting with each other.

By being a part of a healthy team, we certainly improve our odds of achieving our goals.

That’s the whole reason behind this humble little blog. By sharing our thoughts and ideas and suggestions, and encouraging each other, we can work together to get into the best shape of our lives.